Prime Joe Calzaghe vs Prime Bernard Hopkins

[MANGLER]

Hopkins would pound out a UD. Wit more youth and quickness than circa 2008 Hopkins could counter Joe to death for 12 rds.

[msagrain]

What is a Prime Calzaghe and a prime B-hop?

[Addition]

It would be just as tight as their fight earlier in the year but i'd go with Hopkins.

[damian5000]

after hopkins demolished pavlik in a bout he claimed he was his best EVER. who do you think wins now?

Calzaghe around Lacy fight with more stamina and power vs Hopkins around Trinidad fight.

i'd pick calzaghe by close decision.

The Bernard that fought Pavlik would of beaten prime Calzaghe.

[hookoutofhell]

this has been done to death, right heres how i see it playing out, th fight, their primes everything:

JOES PRIME: joes prime was between the fights he had with omar sheika and mario veit II. for those of you who havent followed his career imagine the joe you saw vs lacey, throw in a bit more power, alot more speed and stamina. joe back then had less of the ring smarts which also needs to be mentioned and he let his pride get in the way as well, at times it made for exciting fights (see byron mitchell) but aginst Hopkins this pride would hider not help. Also what doesn't help Joe in this fight is his lack of power, defence and especially his vulnerability to the counter right hand.

HOPKINS PRIME: hopkins prime imo was just before the fights he had with jermaine taylor, he was at his very peak, yes alot of ppl will say that Hopkins menioned the other day that hes feeling better than ever ut come on all boxers say that. Hopkins in his prime like Joe had more speed, more power, and alot more stamina. whats important however is what he did with this stamina - he was alot more mobile then, had a good snap in his punches even late in the fight. Hopkins weaknesses back then and even now is his he cant live with a fast paced fighter, he is great at forming and executing a pre-meditated game plan but he cant think on the ball and prefers to take his time in the ring.

SPEED - joe, by a large margin, not only one punch speed but his handspeed was amazing imo. CALZAGHE

POWER - Hopkins fairs slightly better here, he has more snap on his punches and his recent KD's of fighters like tarver and JC prove this and he managed to hurt Pavlik. HOPKINS

STAMINA - joe, by a fair distance, would easily out throw most fighters. CALZAGHE

ACCURACY OF PUNCHES - hard one to score, case can be made for giving it to either fighter, joe back then was more accurate simply becausehe was more quicker, although Hopkins counterpunching ability. DRAW

CHIN - agains hard one but Joe imo, he has been hit on the chin and got up and won the fight in the same round. DRAW

RING SMARTS - agains hard to score, JC's adaptability was still there although he didn't need to use it, Hopkins as mentioned before probably has the better gameplan and knows how to pick a weakness when wacthing videos etc. DRAW

OFFENSE - joe, hes not as good when he has to come forward and soetimes his balance is a bit off but he landed more punches and because of his speed would hit the target more often as well, Hopkins would land the cleaner punches but again because of Joes speed would also be getting tagged more often. JOE

DEFENSE - Hopkins, more defensively slick and ring savvy when compared to Joe, yes Joe is better on the back foot but Hopkins is better. HOPKINS

Joe calzaghe - joe gets 3 of the categories

Bernard hopkins - gets 2 of the categories

3 are a draw but cases can be made to give them to each - i guess this shows just how hard it is to seperate them

the weight - 168 - its gotta be Hopkins would have no problem making the weight as he is pretty big for a MW anyway, it would onlyimprove his strength i dont see the weight being too muc of an issue in the fight

the prefight game plan -

JOE CALZAGHE - would look to force the action, fight at a high pace, draw him into a brawl and let his superior hand speed do the work. keep the jab pumping, look to throw straight shots into Hopkins guard and force him to put his guard up when he does JC would be all over him like a rash. if he finds it hard JC would go wide and to the body this would be dangerous for joe as he doesn't really have the power to hurt him but he also leaves himself open for the counter.

BERNARD HOPKINS - would look to land his counter right hand, keep joe coming to him and fight off the back foot, counterpunch off the ropes. try and fight on the inside as he is slightly stronger in there, rather than keep it at distance wher joes speed could win him the fight. also lok to counter loopier or wider shots from JC. wants to avoid being drawn into a shoot out.

THE FIGHT

ROUNDS 1-3; joe comesout all guns blazing and he slightly catches b-hop off guard by his fast start, hopkins counters well and often but not often enough to take the rounds

ROUNDS 4-6; hopkins now begins to tangle joe up on the inside and then land his punches, short shapr hooks to the body and uppercuts, he doesn't hurt joe but he begins to fight his fight

ROUNDS 7-9; hopkins body shots look as though they might have had an effect but joe goes back to the jab, but it doesn't work Hopkins beings to work in the sme counter but by now joe is heeded the warning and taken the punch away from him (when they actually fought joe took away the counter right at about round 4, here however he adjusts slightly later on, but still takes away hopkins best punch)

ROUNDS 10-12; joe begins to throw the whirlwind of punches as soon as hopkins is on the ropes, hopkins manages to land the counters but again like in the earlier rounds not often enough.

Joe by SD.

i dont see there being a KO in the fight, maybe a KD but even then both fighters have shown they can get up from the canvas and have a go. yes Hopkins did KD joe before but that was more of a push imo.

iv tried to be objective about it (im a JC fan), but i still think joe just has too much for Hopkins.
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VOLVO V50 HISTORY

[ßringer]

Who the hell picks Calzaghe by KO? Honestly. Hopkins has a world class chin, there's no way Joe stops him. Hopkins stopping Calzaghe is much more likely, and even I wouldn't vote that option. Joe's got a world class chin as well.

I'd favor Hopkins, by a wide UD.

[hookoutofhell]

P.S. what would be important is who gets the first few rounds - whoever does can the fight off theback foot which to be honest is how both fighters would want the fight to go.
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Pm

[Flawless 2]

iv tried to be objective about it (im a JC fan), but i still think joe just has too much for Hopkins.

Sums it up, tell when Joe showed he had a better boxer brain than Hopkins

Hopkins showed it against Tarver Pavlik Winky Tito
Calzaghe Lacy and Kessler

[ßringer]

The people who think Joe's activity level overwhelms a prime Bernard Hopkins, have never even seen a prime Bernard Hopkins. He was a come forward wrecking machine, and if you engaged with him his counters were still as crisp as they are today.

[hookoutofhell]

I never said Hopkins had better stamina than Calzaghe. I was stating that Hopkins had better stamina in his prime than he did at 43. Hopkins downfall in the fight was his stamina and even still argueably won the fight. Hopkins with a higher workrate would be able to counter more and keep Calzaghe at bay.

i think stamina excuse has become exactly that an excuse - hopkins fans are hiding beind it sayig if Hopkins was younger he wouldn't hav tired so quickly.

i dont buy that. im not saying that it wasn't a factor in the fight of course it was, it was one of the reasons he lost. However give credit to Joe, he made him tired by forcing the action, by forcing Hopkins to constantly move and and keep duckig, covering with feints and clever footwork.

Hopkins was tired but he was losing the fightlong before he was getting tired - after round 4 i cant recall him getting the counter right hand off and hitting the target. Joe took it away from him, he started to tire imo in round 9.

But like i said he was already losing the fight long before that.
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